Anti-cat device – Update

I thought I had it all figured out, with my previous anti-cat device. And I was close. Just not there yet. It turns out that the straw keeps the cats away when it’s fresh. But as it decomposes and softens, they come back. I don’t know if they test the ground every day, or every week, but they come back. You would think they would look for greener pastures. But apparently, cats prefer anything to grass. And my yard is full of anything but grass.

Fear not! I have tweaked my technique, and arrived at the final solution. I’ve been using this method for about 6 months now, and it’s perfect.

I actively manage the crepe myrtles along the west side of our house. Meaning, I prune them pretty regularly, to keep them away from the house and away from the driveway. Nothing like getting poked in the eye when you step out of your car. Anyway, normally I would take the small branches from each session and drop them in the compost pile. When I realized my straw wasn’t doing the trick, I started dropping the branchlets between the crepe myrtles, instead.

You can see some pokey bits sticking up between the trees. Voila! No more poop. I’m so happy. This would work in a more active bed, too, you would just need to move them out of the way when planting or cleaning the bed at the end of season, then move them back in around the plants when they’re settled. There are actually devices on the market that would work the same way. But they’re small and I’m cheap. So I’ll stick with this.

With all of the compost and mulch and leaves in this bed, it doesn’t look too bad, either.

I planted four types of mint last summer, which is quickly filling in (NOT cat mint, btw). So this is the first area that I’d say is pretty much done. Time will do its thing, and I’ll keep pruning.

Here’s a picture of the glory of this bed in summer:

It’s perfect solar design, too. Leafy coverage in the baking west sun of summer. Then they lose their leaves to let the winter sun warm our little house. Couldn’t be more perfect.